Table automatic distributor for goods



Nov. 5, 1935. BENKG 2,019,593

TABLE AUTOMATIC DISTRIBUTOR FOR GOODS Filed July 15, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 NW5, 1935. BEgKb 2,019,593

TABLE AUTOMATIC DISTRIBUTOR FOR GOODS Filed July 15, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Again '40" NOV. 5, 1935. EN O 2,019,593

TABLE AUTOMATIC DISTRIBUTOR FOR GOODS Filed July 15, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 ZBY Kb v Patented Nov. 5, 1935 UNITED STATES TABLE AUTOMATIC DISTRIBUTOR FOR GOODS Ivan Benkii, Vienna, Austria Application July 15, 1932, Serial No. 622,799 In Austria August 19, 1931 2 Claims.

Self-cashing, automatic goods distributors with revolving containers and coin-testers are already well-known. The subject-matter of the present invention is such a goods distributor suitable for placi g on a table, particularly adapted for restaurants and. cafes, which distributor occupies very little space, is not very high and can be carried by means of a handle, which serves not only as transporting means, but is also used for operating the apparatus after one or several coins will have been inserted in the slot provided for this purpose.

These qualities are imparted to the automatic distributor according to the invention by having the control gear of the goods container driven over an entraining clutch from an axle supported centrally in the lid of the goods container, such axle being directly connected to a coin disc pertaining to the coin tester and acting as releasing means for the goods container.

Thanks to this design the entire upper part, occupied by the goods container, is kept free from driving elements, so that it is exclusively reserved for the goods container and the coin box placed in the middle. By lifting the lid both the goods container and the coin box are made freely accessible. Hence only one look for the goods container is necessary, whilst the special lock for the coin box, which would be otherwise required, can be dispensed with. The coin tester,

which is the most delicate part of the distributor,

necessitating frequent repairs, is located outside,

on the lid, forming thereby a self-contained and freely accessible unit, not organically connected with the other parts of the distributor, so that it can readily be exchanged and repaired. The insertion of the coins and the action of the coin tester can be easily watched over, and besides all parts of the goods container are visible through the transparent lid.

Owing to the insertion of the entraining clutch between the rotating axle and the control gear of the goods container, a sufficient rotation can be imparted to the coin disc to render possible the testing of the coin before the goods container is set into motion. By displacing the catch on the rotating axle, the angle of rotation of the latter can be easily regulated in such a manner that the same coin tester may be employed on goods con- 50 tainers with a varying number of compartments.

For driving the goods container, control gear wheels connected with a ratchet and pawl device have been frequently used. In contra-distinction thereto a control gear of special design is 55 provided according to the present invention which gear is actuated from the coin disc of the coin tester and which operates with utmost reliability so that a rotation of the goods container beyond the angle corresponding to a compartment is rendered absolutely impossible. 5

The drawings illustrate, by way of an example, one form of application of the invention.

Fig. 1 is a general view and Fig. 2 is a plan View of the automatic machine; Fig. 3 shows the controlled gear of the goods container seen from 10 underneath and Fig. 4 is a detail. (Both figures are drawn to a larger scale). Figs. 5 and 6 show the coin tester with removed lid in two difierent positions and are plan views of the under side of the tester. Figs. '7 and 8 show the control gear 15 from below in two different positions, certain oi the parts thereof being shown as of slightly difierent shape and proportions.

The table automatic distributor for goods is arranged on a sheet metal base I and underneath 20 the latter the drive of the goods container is centrally arranged around the rotatable axis of the latter. The base I has at its centre a collar 2 in which is journaled a hub or bearing 4 (Fig. 4) projecting from the bottom of the cylindrical cen- 25 tral part of a drum-shaped goods container 3, subdivided into compartments t which serve for containing the goods, and provided with a control wheel 5. On the bearing 4 is also arranged a rack wheel 3! with which engages a catch 32 50 which is arranged on the lower side of the sheet metal base I so that it can rotate on a pin, this catch being kept engaged with the rack wheel through the action of a spring 33, thereby preventing the rack wheel and therefore the goods 35 container 3 from rotating in the wrong direction. In the bearing 4 is arranged the driving pin 6 of the goods container 3. The upperend of the driving pin 6 is constructed with a carrier to, and the lower end of the pin has a gear disc I 40 .(Figs. 3 and 4) which has the shape of the segment of a circle, one half of this disc (in Fig. 3 the right half) being the lift-disc 10. In mesh with the control wheel 5 are two catches 36, 31 which are rotatably arranged on the pins 34 and 35 which are on the lower side of the sheet metal base I, the catches 36, 31 being held in the engaged position by springs. One catch 36 engages in front of, and the other 31 behind,- a tooth of the control wheel 5.

On the gear disc I is arranged a pivotable liftlatch or trip 38 which acts on the catch 36 and which, by the action of a tension spring 39, rests against a carrier pin ii]. Each catch 36, 31 has a pin 4!, 42 respectively. On the gear disc I is 55 arranged a switch latch 43 with a tooth 44 which causes the control wheel 5 to rotate when the gear disc moves. The switch latch 43 is normally held against the pin 60 by the spring 6|.

If the carrier 6a is actuated and thereby the driving pin 6 of the automatic machine and with it through the intervening mechanism the control wheel 5 is rotated in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 3, then the sloping edge 45 of the liftlatch 38 (which is prevented from rotating by the carrier pin 46) is pressed against the pin 4| of the catch 36 and causes the later to disengage from the control wheel 5. The switch latch43 now carries along, by means of its tooth 44, the control wheel 5 in the direction of the arrow. The movement of the control wheel is not hindered by the second latch 31 because the latter engages between two teeth of the control wheel. Immediately before the catch 31 engages with the next tooth z of the control wheel 5 and prevents it from rotating, the part of the gear disc 1 which is the lift-disc 'HJ disengages the catch 31 from the control wheel by acting on the pin 42. At the same time the catch 36 engages with the next tooth e1 of the control wheel 5 so that the rotation of the control wheel is limited only to one tooth division so that the goods container 3 can execute only one partial rotation which brings the next goods compartment t of the goods container in front of the delivery opening 0 (Fig. 2). It is clear from the shape and relative positions of the parts as shown in Figs. 3, 7 and 8 in different positions, that when the projection or lift disc 10 is holding the pawl 31 out from the perimeter of the control wheel the lift latch 38 has passed the pin 4| and the pawl 36 is in position to engage a tooth of the control disc. On the other hand, during the movement of the control disc with pawl 36 held out of engaging position by lift latch 38, pawl 31 is in the engaging position. The gear disc 1 is revolved back into its starting position by its spring 46, after it has been released, the lift-latch being rotated against the tension of its spring, when it passes by the pin 4| of the catch 36. After the lift-latch has passed by the pin 4 I it is revolved back by its spring and comes to rest again against the carrier pin 40 of the gear disc I.

The goods container 3 is covered by a transparent lid D preferably of glass which can be locked in the already known way by means of a lock and key not shown. In the central part of the lid is arranged a metal plate m and in this plate there is a slot 11 for introducing the coin. Underneath the plate m there is arranged on the lid D a. coin tester of the already known type (Figs. 5 and 6). The coin M after passing through the opening n in the plate m passes into an opening I] of the-coin disc N3 of the coin tester, which is rotatably arranged under the plate m and can be rotated by means of a handle l9 or the like. The coin disc l8 has a bulge at its edge which forms a tooth 20 which can engage with the end of a pawl 2! which is pivotably arranged on the plate m and is under pressure of a spring 22. The revolving movement of the coin disc I8 is therefore usually stopped by the pawl 2| (Fig. 5). If however a-correct coin m enters the opening l'l of the coin disc l8 and the latter is rotated by means of the handle l9, then the coin will lift the pawl 2| (Fig. 6) and prevent the tooth 20 of the coin disc from engaging with it. The coin disc can therefore be rotated and the coin can drop through the discharge opening of the plate which is arranged under the coin disc l8 (and is not shown in the drawings) into the coin container 41 which forms the central part of the goods container 3, Fig. 4.

The coin tester is a separate compact device, independent of the device which delivers the goods and is attached to the lid D by means of screws, so that it can be easily detached from. the automatic machine.

The handle I9 has at its lower end a carrier 24 which is inv engagement with the carrier 6a of the driving pin 6 of the goods container 3. If after the introduction of a, correct coin into the opening I! of the coin disc la the handle I9 is rotated, then the carrier 24 causes the driving pin 6 to rotate and with it the gear disc I which, by means of the gears 5 43, 44, imparts to the goods container 3 the required partial rotation so that the next compartment t of the goods container 3 which contains the goods will register with the delivery opening 0 of the automatic machine. The several parts of the gear are moved back into the starting position by the spring-'46 which is arranged on the sheet metal plate I and is secured to the gear disc I.

If a wrong coin is inserted into the coin disc i8 then the latter can be rotated only to the point where the pawl 2| engages with the tooth 20 of the coin disc. During this revolution of the coin disc, the coupling 24, 6a does not function and the goods container 3 is not actuated. When the coin disc moves back, the wrong coin is again moved back under the opening n in the plate m and can be taken out.

The automatic machine can also be so built that it functions when several coins are inserted together.

Claims:-

1. A coin controlled goods distributor comprising agoods compartment, a base, a bearing rotatably supporting said compartment on said base, a vertical axle passing through said bearing, mechanism between said axle and compartment to rotate said compartment with said axle, means for locking said compartment against rotation after movement through a predetermined are, a lid for said compartment, a second vertical axle rotatable in said lid and anentraining clutch imparting the rotation in one direction of said second vertical axle to said first vertical axle.

2. In a coin controlled goods distributor, a goods compartment, a lid for said compartment, a base, a bearing rotatably supporting said goods compartment on said base, a vertical axle extending through said bearing, means for operatively connecting said axle to said compartment, means holding said first named means out of engagement during the first partial rotation of said axle, means locking said axle against rotation after a partial rotation of predetermined extent, a second vertical axle rotatable in the lid and having a projection thereon, the first named vertical axle having a projection in the path of the first named projection.

IVAN BENKG. 

